


To Light the Shadows On Your Face

by roseandheather



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-24 15:37:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6158413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseandheather/pseuds/roseandheather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal used to wonder what Leanne Rorish saw in Ed Harbert.</p><p>He doesn't any more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Light the Shadows On Your Face

"Visiting hours are over, you know."

Neal keeps his voice as gentle as he can, but the words still startle Ed Harbert out of a sound slumber. He jerks awake, blinking rapidly, and lifts his head from where it had been pillowed by Leanne's elbow.

"Ask me if I care," he says roughly. "For this, I will shamelessly pull rank."

"I can't say I blame you," Neal admits, walking into the room and closing the door softly behind him. "If it were Christa in that bed..."

The thought alone makes him shiver, and he can't go on.

But Harbert seems to get it, anyway. He just nods, using the hand not still holding Leanne's to scrub at the crusts in his eyes. "I'm not leaving her," he says defiantly, his eyes never leaving her face. "I don't care what anyone says."

"I think we've all figured out not to ask you to," Neal replies dryly, when he can find the words. "According to Christa, you nearly bit her head off when she suggested you go to the cafeteria and eat something."

"And then she brought food up here for me," Harbert says with a wan smile. "That's quite a girl you've got there, Dr Hudson."

"I could say the same about you," Neal says softly. There's something decidedly unnerving about Leanne's pale skin and still body; she should be _moving,_ barking orders, arguing, demanding, saving lives.

But there's also something oddly reassuring about the way Ed Harbert is looking at her now.

"You really love her, don't you." Neal doesn't even know he'd thought the words until he says them, and instantly, he wants to take them back.

But Ed...

Ed simply sighs. "I do," he says raggedly. "I love her. Unconditionally."

"Does she know?"

Slowly, as though the movement hurts, Ed nods. "Yes. She does. Believe me, she does." Finally, he turns around, and Neal is startled by how haggard he truly looks. Between the rumpled suit, messy hair, and dark circles under his eyes, he looks like he hasn't even slept in days. "I know you all think I'm cold," he says softly, absently stroking Leanne's palm with his thumb. "That I care more about numbers and dollar signs than patients. That I've forgotten how to be a real doctor. Some days, I even agree with you. But Leanne...." He trails off, and Neal is startled to see tears in his eyes.

Though maybe he shouldn't be, after this.

"I want to be the man I am in her eyes," Ed says at last. "And _for_ her, I can be."

"And you said I'm the drama queen."

Ed's head snaps around, his face alight. "Leanne," he breathes, and presses a fervent kiss to her palm. "Welcome back, sweetheart."

"Couldn't leave any of you unsupervised for too long," she rasps, and when she smiles back at Ed, her whole face glows. "I love you too, you know."

"I do," says Ed, and his voice is choked. "Thank God, I do."

"Got another surgery scar to add to my collection."

"One more reminder you're still here with me," Ed manages, and then he does break down, shoulders shaking as he bows over Leanne's hand and kisses it fiercely, tears falling thick and fast. Leanne strokes his hair with her free hand, unfathomable tenderness in her eyes, a misty smile wreathing her face, and she doesn't look away.

Neal, quite prudently, slips out of the room and eases the door shut.

"Oh," says Christa softly as she comes up behind him. "He really adores her."

"I used to wonder what she saw in him," Neal admits, reaching out to take Christa's hand in his and interlacing their fingers. "I don't any more."

On the other side of the window, Leanne smiles.


End file.
